


Red Leather

by the100vaticancameos



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Biker AU, F/F, Other characters mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-27 00:32:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5026765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the100vaticancameos/pseuds/the100vaticancameos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Emma steals herself a motorcycle, the last thing she expects is a complete life change (and a beautiful new girlfriend) to go along with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Leather

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kjtgp1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjtgp1/gifts).



> *Disclaimer* I know nothing about motorcycles, mechanics, flirting, or pretty much anything in this au. Apologies if there are any inaccuracies pertaining to OUAT facts or biker/regular life facts*

On Emma Swan’s 30th birthday, she got a motorcycle. Well, to be perfectly accurate, on the high of adventure-and possibly a little too much rum- at 11:45 on her last day of being 29, she stole a motorcycle that was parked a few blocks away from her house. When she woke up, the last thing she expected to find in the living room of her fourth floor apartment was a worn out green motorcycle. After almost falling over it six separate times whilst getting ready for her day, she decided "screw it, I’m taking it for a ride!"  
Emma had ridden on a motorbike a few times before, old boyfriends and such, but had never driven one herself. On the moderately quiet block outside her apartment building, she stepped on and promptly fell over. Not as easy as the movies made it look! After a few more times, she managed to get herself properly seated. She gunned the bike, relishing in the sound and feel of the engine underneath her, and roared off down the block.  
...  
After a few days of riding, Emma’s never felt better. The motorcycle gave her a feeling of power and far more freedom than in her Bug. But it wasn’t really enough. She wanted more than to be the person who rode a motorcycle, she wanted to look the part. Flinging open her closet door, she was a bit disappointed at the collection of clothing that greeted her. Rows of dresses, pencil skirts, blazers, and work-appropriate blouses hung from their hangers, neatly pressed and ready to be turned into an outfit. Nothing special. Stepping in with her eyes closed and her arms held out, she thrust her hands to the back of the closet where they skimmed snow pants and sweaters before landing on something cool and smooth. Grasping it, she yanked it out of the neatly ordered lines. A red leather jacket, bought for her by one of her ex-boyfriends, right before they’d broken up. "Perfect", she thought brain already whirring into motion.  
...  
She roared into the parking lot of the small shopping complex, feeling slightly more the part with jeans, leather jacket, and her newly spray painted bike, a few shades brighter than her jacket, and shined to a gleam. Pushing down the kickstand and tossing her keys into her pocket, Emma strode into the the motorcycles repair shop. It hadn’t broken down, but she wanted to get it checked out for any parts that might need replacing. Standing off to the side, in the workshop area of the store was a woman of about Emma’s age elbows deep in the guts of a beautiful bike. Actually, the bike was nothing compared to the woman working on it. Who was now staring expectantly at Emma.  
“Oh! hi”  
“Hey” greeted the girl, “can I help you find something?” She gave Emma the once-over, and Emma took that as an opportunity to give her the same. Boots, leather pants, button down shirt that was tied up, and long brown hair streaked with red.  
“Yeah, I’m looking for my bike, I-I mean I need someone to look at my bike. It’s out there” Emma rambled.  
“Right” the woman muttered. Taking a deep breath and putting on a bright smile she asked, “is something wrong with it? Need a new part?”  
“no, I think it’s fine, I just got it, ah, used, and I want to make sure they’re aren’t any...safety issues?”  
“Is that a question?” asked the shopkeeper.  
Emma buried her face to hide her blush and walked out to her bike.  
“Niiiiiicceee” the woman exclaimed. As she brushed past, Emma got a glimpse at her name tag, ‘Ruby’. Same colour as her motorcycle. “You paint this yourself?” Ruby knelt without waiting for a response. She yanked a flashlight out of her pocket and peered into the guts of the machine. After a minute, she stood up. “It’s in pretty good condition considering how old it is. You say you got it used? I hope it wasn’t too much...” she trailed off, trying to calculate how much it should have sold for.  
“I got a discount” Emma clarified, and Ruby nodded.  
“It’s good, just keep it oiled, everyone forgets that motorcycles need love too!” she explained as she stood up. Ruby began walking back to the store, the gears in Emma’s brain began to turn.  
“Don’t I need a helmet?” she called to Ruby’s retreating figure.  
Ruby halted, and turned around, looking Emma up and down once again.  
“I think you’ll be fine” she smiled, and walked back inside.  
...  
The next day, Emma hopped on her bike and rode to the nearest strip mall. She then locating a store that advertised lots of leather and biker gear. She walked in, and almost immediately started pulling things off racks. Leather pants, vests, destroyed denim, studded gloves, red miniskirts, anything she thought would look good. She found a dressing room and pulled together an outfit of black jeans, a destroyed white tank top, and her red leather jacket. She threw open the curtain to check it out in the larger mirror at the end of the row of dressing rooms, and smacked her arm directly into someone standing behind her. She whipped around preparing to apologize profusely, but the words died on her lips when she saw the girl she had hit. Ruby, from the other day!  
Ruby’s lips spread into a slow smile, and Emma found herself tongue tied.  
“Hi” she finally managed.  
“Hey” replied Ruby, cocking an eyebrow, “you buying all that just for the bike?”  
“I figured I should, uh, fit the part”.  
“Nice” Ruby waited a beat, eyes scanning from Emma’s clothing to the room she had just vacated. “looks good, especially on you”.  
“Thanks!” Emma answered breathlessly, and got a beautiful view as Ruby walked off, arms full of purchases.  
Needless to say, Emma bought everything.  
...  
After a few days, Emma started thinking, she needed an excuse to go back to the motorcycle shop. Thinking quickly, she drained the oil and hurried her bike in.  
“Back so soon?” Ruby greeted  
“Couldn’t stay away” Emma quipped. "If only you knew how true that was."  
“As it turns out, I don’t know how to change my oil”.  
Ruby grinned.  
“You just here for a lesson, or are you out?”  
“Both”.  
‘That’s a tall order, but I’ll see what I can do”. Ruby stepped out from behind the counter covered in gleaming chrome and metal parts. She reached up to a shelf and pulled down a bottle of oil and a few tools. Stepping over to the bike she sat down next to it and pulled at the oil compartment. She shows Emma how to check the level, and then how to refill it. Emma asked about what kind of oil she should buy and generally tried to stay in the store for as long as she could. When she couldn’t think up another excuse to stay, she sighed and rose to her feet. Following, Ruby ambled to the register. Emma handed the shopkeeper her card and she rung it up. As she walked out of the store, Ruby called “Have a nice day, Emma”. The strange emphasis put on her name caused her to turn around on her heel.  
Biting her lip, she asked “I’ve never told you my name, have I?” Ruby’s smirk was her answer.  
“You just handed my your credit card” she said, as way of explanation. “Emma Swan” she rolled it on her tongue, and leaned across the counter, giving Emma another undeniably lovely view. “Great name”.  
“So is Ruby”. Emma walked back to the counter. “Ruby what?”  
“Ruby Lucas”.  
The newly informed Emma stuck out her hand. “Ms. Lucas, it’s been a pleasure”.  
“Been?” Ruby’s eyebrows shot up. “And here I thought I might get a chance where my hands aren’t covered in motor oil”.  
“Oh, didn’t anyone ever tell you? It’s part of your charm”.  
Ruby laughed, stepping backward and throwing a hand up to cover her mouth.  
“My grandma owns this place, she’d die if she heard you say that, since she met my grandpa working here. She’s always elbow-deep in grease. I suppose I am too”.  
“Well, here’s your chance”. Emma scrawled her name and number on a business card plucked from the stack sitting next to the register. She ran out, mentally applauding herself for getting the last, sassy word.  
...  
RL: friday night. 872 Dogwood street. wear your leather.  
ES: Ok, what time?  
RL: 8  
ES: Am I going to get any details?  
RL: don’t be silly. no.  
Ruby sighed, giddy with excitement and put down her phone. She had a date!  
...  
Ruby leaned against her motorcycle, long legs accentuated by spike heeled boots. She nervously chewed on her nail, scanning the street back and forth. As she heard the roar of a motorcycle approaching, she straightened her shirt for what seemed like the hundredth time. Granted, there wasn’t a whole lot of shirt to straighten, but she felt like her date would appreciate that.  
She watched Emma roar up to the curb, skidding to a stop meet feet in front of her. She watched as Emma swung one long, vinyl-clad leg over the seat, pulled off her helmet, and shook out her long blond hair. "What is this, an 80’s movie?" Ruby asked herself. She took a long moment to appreciate everything that was walking towards her. Ruby knew she looked great, but Emma was a whole different level. Taking a gamble, she offered Emma her elbow.  
“Ready to meet the troops?” she asked with a sly smile.  
“I don’t know who they are, but sure, I’m down for anything” Emma responded and took the offered limb.  
Ruby turned, with Emma on her arm, and faced the old house she’d instructed Emma to meet her at. Taking a deep breath, she strode inside. The once-grand front hall of the decrepit old victorian had been decked out steampunk style gears and wallpaper. Faintly, from inside the maze of rooms, she heard boisterous shouts and laughs. Grinning at Emma, she led her date through a veritable labyrinth of old passageways. Once they reached the cacophony, Ruby threw open a set of doors, and a kitchen full of women, decked out in biker gear, preparing what looked like a feast together, greeted Emma boisterously.  
Smiling confusedly, Emma turned to Ruby through the steam that had leaked out of the kitchen.  
“What-what is this?”  
Ruby grinned, “My family”.  
...  
Emma met all them over a delicious dinner. All woman, all bikers, all fiercely protective of Ruby. A tiny woman named Blue (Blue?) had warned her with a sharp stare that she “better not hurt our wolf”. Many of the ladies referred to Ruby as this way, and after the 5th time, Emma leaned over.  
“Wolf?” she inquired.  
“None of us go by real names. Blue, Snow, Mulan, Beauty, Aurora” she pointed out a few of the ladies, who smiled at hearing their names.  
Emma wrinkled her forehead. “Are those...fairy tales?” she asked slowly. Ruby nodded. Emma laughed, “I’m sorry, are you Red Riding Hood?” Ruby smiled mischievously and went back to eating.  
...  
That night, after dinner, drinks, and hours of conversation, Ruby pulled Emma up the stairs into a bedroom. They sat, half sprawled on a massive canopy bed and Ruby asked Emma what she’d thought.  
“It wasn’t was I was expecting, that’s for damn sure. Do you guys, sorry, ladies, actually do any biking? Or do you just eat?” she joked.  
“No, no, we bike, but we save it for the weekends. I’ll take you sometime”. Ruby’s eyes brightened at the thought.  
Emma smiled. It sounded perfect. Ruby lifted a gentle finger and brushed aside a blond curl that had fallen into Emma’s eyes. She let her hand linger for a few seconds before Emma used it as leverage to pull Ruby completely on top of her.  
...  
Emma learned a brand new meaning to Ruby’s nickname. The girl liked to bite. She didn’t mind, or course, but she didn't expect it. Her fingers, lips, and arms, felt bruised in a lovely way. Sparks flew, and Emma lost her hands on the silk of Ruby’s hair and skin. The world stopped, but she and Ruby flew on.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I had so much fun writing it.
> 
> I also made a Mini-Playlist to go along with it. I kept note of all the songs that had a hand in inspiring this and put in a sort of order, give it a listen if you like.
> 
> Ghost, by Halsey  
> Eternal Night, by Carry Hatchet  
> Everywhere I Go, by Lissie  
> Sigh No More, by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen  
> Oceans, by Coasts  
> Therapy, by All Time Low  
> Empty Gold, by Halsey  
> We Own the Sky, by M83  
> Never Look Away, by Vienna Teng  
> Samson, by Regina Spektor


End file.
